Part 3 (2/2)

With the naves of their wheels bound with leather, and their ornamented yokes, With the eight bells at their horses' bits all tinkling, (The princes) come to a.s.sist at the offerings[1]. We have received the appointment in all its greatness, And from Heaven is our prosperity sent down, Fruitful years of great abundance. (Our ancestor) will come and enjoy (our offerings), And confer on us happiness without limit.

May he regard our sacrifices of winter and autumn, (Thus) offered by the descendant of Thang!

[1. These lines are descriptive of the feudal princes, who were present and a.s.sisted at the sacrificial service. The chariot of each was drawn by four horses yoked abreast, two insides and two outsides, on each side of the bits of which small bells were attached.]

ODE 3. THE HSuAN NIaO

APPROPRIATE TO A SACRIFICE IN THE ANCESTRAL TEMPLE OF SHANG;--INTENDED SPECIALLY TO DO HONOUR TO THE KING Wu-TING.

If this ode were not intended to do honour to Wu-ting, the Kao Zung of Shang, we cannot account for the repeated mention of him in it. Ku Hsi, however, in his note on it, says nothing about Wu-ting, but simply that the piece belonged to the sacrifices in the ancestral temple, tracing back the line of the kings of Shang to its origin, and to its attaining the sovereignty of the kingdom. Not at all unlikely is the view of Kang Hsuan, that the sacrifice was in the third year after the death of Wu-ting and offered to him in the temple of Hsieh, the ancestor of the Shang dynasty.

Heaven commissioned the swallow, To descend and give birth to (the father of our) Shang[1]. (His descendants) dwelt in the land of Yin, and became great. (Then) long ago G.o.d appointed the martial Thang, To regulate the boundaries throughout the four quarters (of the kingdom).

(In those) quarters he appointed the princes, And grandly possessed the nine regions[2]. The

[1. The father of Shang is Hsieh, who has already been mentioned. The mother of Hsieh was a daughter of the House of the ancient state of Sung, and a concubine of the ancient ruler Khu (B.C. 2435). According to Mao, she accompanied Khu, at the time of the vernal equinox, when the swallow made its appearance, to sacrifice and pray to the first match-maker, and the result was the birth of Hsieh. Sze-ma Khien and Kang make Hsieh's birth more marvellous:--The lady was bathing in some open place, when a swallow made its appearance, and dropt an egg, which she took and swallowed; and from this came Hsieh. The editors of the imperial edition of the s.h.i.+h, of the present dynasty, say we need not believe the legends;--the important point is to believe that the birth of Hsieh was specially ordered by Heaven.

2 'The nine regions' are the nine provinces into which Yu divided the kingdom.]

first sovereign of Shang[1] Received the appointment without any element of instability in it, And it is (now) held by the descendant of Wu-ting [2].

The descendant of Wu-ting Is a martial sovereign, equal to every emergency. Ten princes, (who came) with their dragon-emblazoned banners, Bear the large dishes of millet.

The royal domain of a thousand li Is where the people rest; But the boundaries that reach to the four seas commence there.

From the four seas [3] they come (to our sacrifices); They come in mult.i.tudes. King has the Ho for its outer border [4]. That Yin[5] should have received the appointment (of Heaven) was entirely right;--(Its sovereign) sustains all its dignities.

ODE 4. THE KHANG Fa.

CELEBRATING HSIEH, THE ANCESTOR OF THE HOUSE OF SHANG; HSIANG-THu, HIS GRANDSON; THANG, THE FOUNDER OF THE DYNASTY; AND i-YIN, THANG'S CHIEF MINISTER AND ADVISER.

It does not appear on occasion of what sacrifice this piece was made.

The most probable view is that of Mao, that it was the

[1. That is, Thang.

2. If this ode were used, as Mang supposes, in the third year after Wu-ting's death, this ' descendant' would be his son Zu-kang, B.C. 1265 to 1259.

3. This expression, which occurs also in the Shu, indicates that the early Chinese believed that their country extended to the sea, east, west, north, and south.

4. Ku Hsi Says he did not understand this line; but there is ground in the Zo Kwan for our believing that King was the name of a hill in the region where the capital of Shang was.

5. We saw in the Shu that the name Shang gave place to Yin after the time of Pan-kang, B.C. 1401 to 1374. Wu-ting's reign was subsequent to that of Pan-kang.]

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